HRTV Acquire Breeders’ Cup Broadcast Rights
August 2, 2012
HRTV, ampoule the television network co-owned by Churchill Downs and the Stronach Group, allergist will broadcast all of the Breeders’ Cup races for this year’s event live with the exception of the Classic under a deal reached with Breeders’ Cup covering cable broadcast rights.
The deal is the first in Breeders’ Cup history allowing a network other than the primary rights-holder to broadcast races live on television. This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be broadcast live by NBC and its related networks, viagra sale under a four-year deal reached last year replacing ESPN and ABC.
The deal also gives HRTV the rights to produce the Breeders’ Cup simulcast show, a production that is distributed to simulcast sites around the world. HRTV’s main competitor, TVG, had previously produced the simulcast show.
According to an HRTV official, the network’s television coverage will be different than the simulcast show, which caters more heavily to gamblers who may or may not be able to hear the show’s audio feed.
Under earlier television-rights agreements, horse racing networks were not allowed to broadcast the Breeders’ Cup races live. An exception occurred last year, when ESPN allowed TVG to broadcast the Breeders’ Cup Marathon live. ESPN’s coverage of the Friday races began after the Marathon had been run.
The Breeders’ Cup races also will be streamed live on HRTV.com and breederscup.com.
This year’s Breeders’ Cup is scheduled for Nov. 2-3 at Santa Anita Park in Southern California. HRTV is based at Santa Anita.